Payback

John Chard

2014-09-25

⭐ 8.5

Indestructible Gibson in grim and gritty telling of The Hunter. This is not an out and out remake of John Boorman's 1967 offering Point Blank, the structure is different from the 67 film, and where Point Blank is a dark psychological thriller that is rightly regarded as being towards the top of the neo-noir tree, this Brian Helgeland directed film really should be seen as a different interpretation of Donald E. Westlake's novel The Hunter. Mel Gibson plays tough as nails thief Porter, who is double crossed, shot, and then left for dead by his wife Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger) and his partne…

An underrated crime noir that somehow snuck it's way into the overcrowded 90s. With phrases like, "expected horizontal refreshment", you know this is going to be good.

Wuchak

2021-06-27

⭐ 6

_**Amusing neo-noir in Chicago with Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry and Maria Bello**_ After a heist with an Asian gang, a no-nonsense man (Mel Gibson) is left for dead by his accomplices (Gregg Henry & Deborah Kara Unger) in the underbelly of the Big City, but he unexpectedly recovers and wants vengeance, not to mention his $70,000. Maria Bello, Lucy Liu, William Devane, Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn and other notables are on hand. "Payback" (1999) is modern film noir with colors so muted it’s almost B&W (although I hear the Director’s Cut heightens them). It’s a remake of Coburn’s “Point Bl…